The Anime Network Removed from Comcast; Funimation Gains More Market Share
By Keiichi Morisato
I felt that it was about time I address this personally.
Funimation is a great company with some great titles but they’re starting to act like Microsoft by trying to monopolize a certain market. Recently, it was announced that the Anime Network would no longer be offered from Comcast and that the cable giant would be replacing The Anime Network with anime titles offered by Funimation through their catalog of licensed anime.
This is bad news for the anime industry in North America. With very few anime companies licensing and distributing anime in the United States, they are effectively eliminating various anime distributors with only Bandai Entertainment, USA, being the final major licensor of anime. Bandai Entertainment, USA, is associated with Bandai Visual, Japan and operates and distributes anime in North America.
While we applaud Funimation for their efforts in expanding the number of anime titles available for anime fans in the United States, we cannot support a monopoly of the industry where anime prices can be controlled by one company. They currently control a majority of anime in the United States as well as replacing an anime network that previously enjoyed a decent life on a cable network.
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